Court Rules Tulsa-Area Schools Lack Standing

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The Oklahoma Supreme Court has ruled that two Tulsa-area school districts lack standing to sue to block a school voucher program for students with disabilities.

The state's highest court issued the ruling on Tuesday in the case in which public schools in Jenks and Tulsa countersued the parents of children who sought the scholarship vouchers.

A Tulsa County district judge had agreed with the school districts that the Lindsey Nicole Henry Scholarship Act violated a constitutional prohibition of public money being used for a sectarian institution. But the appellate court ruled the districts did not meet the "threshold standing requirement" for constitutional challenges.

The law allows public money to be used to send children with certain documented disabilities to private schools, including religious schools.